


more than words can help

by aurumdalseni (kyo_chan)



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Abuse, Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21926272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyo_chan/pseuds/aurumdalseni
Summary: Gansey finds out about Adam's abusive home.
Relationships: Richard Gansey III & Adam Parrish
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	more than words can help

**Author's Note:**

> This is the companion piece to Yume's [Written On His Skin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21903313). I'm super appreciative of the support and encouragement they provided while I was writing it. Thanks for reading!

They were essentially having a stand-off in the car. Tension ran thick inside the Pig, which was already choked with heat and gasoline. Gansey could barely stand it, and yet, he continued to drive in silence, wishing his years of learning to have every conversation included how to have  _ this _ one. The one he and Adam currently  _ weren’t _ having. The school crept closer in the building Henrietta traffic. They were running out of time to have any sort of talk, and Gansey wondered if their friendship had gone on long enough for “companionable silence” or if it was weirder just not to ask. Maybe Adam had noticed how often Gansey tried to see Adam’s face in the side mirror. 

Gansey could maneuver his way through a political quagmire with all the right things to say, but he couldn’t ask his friend why he had a black eye. 

Onward they drove, the Pig stuttering in time with Gansey’s mouth opening and closing, the words never quite making it out. He shuffled his way through a mental Rolodex of possibilities. Parrish didn’t get into fights the way Ronan did, and he wasn’t careless. The more he thought about it, the more disturbing the remaining options were. He supposed, when he got down to it, he’d assumed the worst from the start. Society gossip was all about people’s worst secrets, and he was supposed to turn a blind eye. He couldn’t when it was Adam. 

The next time he glanced over, Adam was staring right at him. Now Gansey didn’t need the mirror to see the shadows of bruising down the side of his face. The reality was worse than the reflection. They stopped at a light and Gansey dared to meet Adam’s piercing gaze. He tried to find something - anger, fear, anything that meant he was rallying against this as much as Gansey was. But all Gansey could find was his focused exhaustion, and beneath that, acceptance. 

“Say what you wanna say, Gansey.”

The light changed and Gansey was relieved to focus on the road as he eased off the brake. The Camaro choked, but pushed forward, and Gansey swallowed around a lump in his throat. 

“Who did that to you, Parrish?”

Adam made a noise Gansey didn’t know how to label, and for a moment, he didn’t reply. 

“Why are you asking me when you already know?”

Gansey’s stomach sank, his knuckles white where he gripped the steering wheel. God, he remembered what it was like to see Robert Parrish’s face in the window. He dripped contempt at the sight of Gansey or Ronan, and it chilled him to the bone how easily he could imagine his fist leaving its mark on Adam’s face. 

“It would have been rude to assume,” Gansey said weakly. It almost got lost in the rumble of the Pig’s cabin, but Adam heard him. 

“The look on your face says you assumed it whether you said it or not.”

“Well, hell, Adam, it’s not like you start fights at school. That’s Lynch’s job. What else am I to think? That you fell down the stairs?”

Adam turned his head to look out the window, leaving the good side of his face visible. Gansey wanted to pretend it was all right, but he couldn’t. 

“Just forget about it.”

Gansey jerked the wheel, dragging the car over to the shoulder so he could throw it into park. He twisted in his seat to fully face Adam. “Forget? About someone hitting you? How am I to do that?”

“The same way everyone else does,” Adam said, keeping his voice even when Gansey didn’t.

“I’m not everyone else, I’m your  _ friend _ , Parrish. I can’t just let this happen to you.”

“You can’t do anything to stop it. You can’t fix everything just because you want to, Gansey. That’s not the way the world works.”

“Sitting back and ignoring you being hurt isn’t the way the world works either. You should—”

“No. Before you even say it, no.”

Gansey felt his his skin prickling, hot and fierce. He felt so helpless and he didn’t know what he could do about it. Adam wasn’t even going to let him offer a way out. He bit the inside of his cheek, sagging back into his seat. He wouldn’t give up on this; surely Adam would see reason at some point. He would be safer at Monmouth, and they both knew it. 

“We’re going to be late,” Adam told him blandly. 

Gansey steered the Pig back out to the road, unsure of what else he could say. Maybe there was nothing he could say, but that felt wrong to him. His chest ached at the idea of ignoring the fact that someone was hitting Adam. They finished the drive in silence, gasoline and tension thick between them. Gansey racked his brain for something,  _ anything _ else he could say or do, but in the end, there was this: turning the car off and once more turning in his seat to face Adam. 

“Are we still okay?” he asked.

Adam stared like he was trying to see through him, looking for falsehood or motive. Gansey just wanted to be his friend, however Parrish let him. Finally, he nodded.

“We’re cool.” Adam raised his fist. 

Gansey bumped knuckles with him. They were good; that would have to be good enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me about TRC over at [my blog](http://oldkingyounggod.tumblr.com)!


End file.
